Central football coach Lynord Crutchfield retires

Lynord Crutchfield got the coaching bug in 1994 when he was doing his student teaching at Bishop Byrne while wrapping up his career at the University of Memphis. Now it's time to close the book.

"I'm going out to pasture," joked the 45-year-old, who announced his retirement on Monday. "I've got a great opportunity at FedEx, and now it's time to secure my future. I've done the football thing."

He did it better than most.

Crutchfield took the Central job in 2011 and inherited a program whose last winning season was 13 years prior. The Warriors had four consecutive winning seasons from 2013 through 2016, reaching the Class 5A quarterfinals in 2013 and notching their first 10-win season since 1962 last year.

"Brought Central back to relevance," school principal Greg McCullough posted on Twitter on Monday. "Thanks Crutch!"

Central's 2017 season was uneven; the Warriors won their first four before losing five straight to close the year. They turned in their best performance of the season in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs — storming back from a 34-13 deficit to defeat Cordova 41-40 in overtime — before ending the year with a 35-0 loss to Whitehaven last week.

"I was really contemplating (retiring) last year, but a couple of people talked me into staying," he said. "But I knew it was time. Whether we won state this year or lost every game, I knew this was going to be it."

Crutchfield's first job was as an assistant at Oakhaven in 1995 before going on to head coaching jobs at Cordova, Tunica Rosa Fort and Wooddale. At every stop, he stayed true to his ethos.

"The whole reason I got into coaching was strictly to develop players," he said. "To see an awkward kid who's getting no attention develop in to a player ... that makes me the most proud.

"The jobs I had were not attractive coaching-wise, but they were attractive to me because I saw the challenge."

Reach John Varlas at john.varlas@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @johnvarlas.